From Mustapha Adamu, Kano
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that the traces of intaglio ink produced by the redesigned naira notes when rubbed on plain white surfaces means they are genuine, not fake.
Director of Currency Operation of the CBN, A.B. Umar, states this during an awareness campaign for traders on the redesigned naira notes, held at Dawanau International Grains Market in Kano state on Thursday.
Umar, represented by an official at the bank, Shamsuddin Zubair Imam, debunked the insinuations that the new naira notes produced the ink mark because they are produced with low quality features.
However, according to Umar, any currency, even the US Dollar, if it does not produce ink mark when rubbed, so it is not genuine, but fake.
He emphasized that “the new naira notes had been designed with enhances quality features that make it difficult to be faked.
“It is untrue that if you rubb the new naira notes and see the mark of the ink Mena’s the currency is fake. That ink mark is the sign of quality. It means it is genuine not make. That is the feature that show a currency is genuine.
“Even American currency, if rubbed on surfaces, leaves the ink mark, that means it is genuine,” he said.
The Director also urged the traders to rush to banks and deposit their money before the January 31st deadline.
He advised them to make sure they beat the deadline in order not to incur losses in their business, urging them to go en mass to open bank accounts without deposit charges.
He pointed out that the redesign policy would help the apex bank reduce cost of currency management and check proliferation of fake currencies in the country.
In a remark, the Deputy Chairman of Dawanau International Grains Market, Alhaji Baba Wawo decried non-availability of the new currency for the traders.
According to him, traders in the market, which is the biggest grains market in West Africa, find it difficult to access the redesigned N1000, N500 and N200 notes, even as the deadline is fast approaching.
He told the management of the apex bank that majority of the customers they are dealing with are from rural areas who mostly do.not have bank accounts.
According to him, the customers do not even accept transfers when traders buy their goods in the market.
“We travel to long distance to meet our customers in rural areas who do not have access to banks dn do not have bank accounts. These people prefer cash when we buy their commodities. Most of them do not even accept transfers.
“As i am talking to you now, i have not seen a single trader in this market, who go to bank and withdrawal the new naira notes. I do not think we can meet the deadline.
“We call on the CBN to make the new currency available at banks and other financial institutions. We welcome the new policy but let it be eased to us.
“We call on CBN to provide other means that will ease our transactions with our customers in rural areas. We will welcome this cashless policy even because it is a risk to us to carry huge amount of cash to cover long distance by road.
“However, we call on the CBN to provide leve ground for us to run our business with ease. The apex bank should consider that our business is cash-driven. Hence, if special provision is not made, we will be at loss,” he said.
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